I know, I know; its been a month since my last update and so much has happened. I will try and add a few new updates over the next week or so. Here is the first one from our Spring Break Trip.
Over spring break we decided at the last minute (what else is new ) to take a cruise to the Western Caribbean. We had never been there and the last few years we have really enjoyed being on cruises. We had hoped to depart from New Orleans as we had never been there, but it wasn't to be. My cousin, Dena, is an agent for NCL, so we called her and she booked us on the
Norweigan Pearl, one of their newer ships. The ship was very nice, we thought the food and entertainment was top notch and the overall experience was great. The ports were new to us and Bonnie did a great job researching and choosing some great shore excursions, so it was a great week. The best part of our trip was that Bonnie's niece Becky and her husband Brian were able to come along as well. She had the same spring break so it worked perfectly.
The itinerary was to visit Roatan in Honduras, Belize (you have to see it to belize it) and Cozumel. You can check out a
full-sized slideshow here, watch a smaller version below, and then read about each port with a few photos in the next section. Be sure and watch the ANIMOTO video at the end of the post; they are fun to make and watch.
Roatan- Honduruas: Bonnie found a
guide to take us all over the island. Brian had requested seeing animals, Becky and I wanted to visit a school and we all wanted a fresh lobster for lunch (yes, me and food again). Our guide did a great job at meeting all our desires, we visited an iguana farm where they are trying to save them. They have over 4,000 wandering around and Brian had a blast petting them (eeww). We visited a school , Alberto Gonzales Cabllero at French Cay where our guide's son is an english teacher. The Honduran government just mandated bilingual education, but there are very few english teachers. He was very nice and took us around while telling us about the school system. We dropped off some supplies we
had brought for the kids and I promised to email him for his address so I can send him more English materials. He especially needs grammar books that are designed for English learners. We headed off to visit some monkeys and birds. Can you imagine Bonnie making nice with a bird, never in my wildest dream, it must have been something in the air. The monkeys were all over us and very mischevious. We finally headed to our lobster and coconut shrimp lunch right on the water. We had planned on laying on the beach, but we were just too lazy for even that and headed back to town and the ship to prepare for another great night ont he Pearl and our next port- Belize.
Next stop- Belize. It's UNBELIZABLE. (I'm so funny sometimes). Bonnie found a great excursion company called
Major Tom that took us Cave Tubing; His guides were AWESOME. We took a 45 minute ride through town and the countryside, learned all about Belize (only Central American country where English is the first language, where the name came from, etc) and ended up at the river. A nice 35 minute walk through the forest, with a few interesting facts and then jump into the tubes and float down the river with headlamps on. About 1/2 the time was in a dark, cool cave. Only a few bats (just kidding). And Brian even jumped off a cliff before and after the tube ride. What a daredevil
Our last inhabited spot was Cozumel. We decided to take a snorkel boat trip and although it was a bit wavy we still had a great time. Early departure meant a little nap on the boat as we motored for ~ 1 hour to get to the best location. The coral reef that goes from Roatan past Belize and up to Cozumel is the second largest in the world. The fish were beautiful and we had a nice time. Back on the boat to clean up and just a lazy afternoon instead of shopping in all the shops in Cozumel. (been there, done that). Senor Frogs will have to wait for our next trip.
Our last days on the ship brought a few exciting events, some planned, some unplanned. One of the passengers took ill. After doing what they could on the ship, a Coast Guard Helicopter was dispatched to airlift them back to shore. A little bit of a show on deck for all of us, and fortunately the passenger was fine. The next morning we spent 6 hours searching for someone who had fallen (or jumped) from a different ship at 3am , not sure if they were ever found the person, but it was kind of sad as we were just slowly trolling with 4 other ships trying to find them. According to a crew member, this is more common than you might think. Finally, we spent our last afternoon on a private beach followed by a toga party for our lat night. What a great week we had. Can't wait for our next cruise.
We really do love cruising. If anyone wants to join us, we are going again in the near future, probably a trip to Alaska or maybe Egypt. Of course we are up for anywhere, so give us a call and we'll join you. No need to plan in advance we can be ready to go in no time.
Enjoy the ANIMOTO from our trip
We connected with Bonnie's oldest friend, Natalie, and brought the 2 mothers together for a fun lunch at Rise n Dine. Lots of talk about our kids and the food was great. On the way home, I even found a place called Gator's, just like my school mascot. :)
Sunday was the big day, Mother's day brunch at Becky's, Bonnie made her famous Zucchini Fritatta, Harry chipped in French Toast and Lox and Bagels all around. (not the best picture, but it will have to do)
We were supposed to head home on Monday evening, so we took a drive to my old neighborhood just to reminisce a bit. (I also had to pick up some more memory for Leslie's computer and there was a discount memory outlet in the neighborhood that I grew up in.) We drove by the house I lived in for most of my childhood, knocked on my old neighbor's door (Larry) and chatted for a while and then toured the old area. My elementary school had been turned into a police station and the new elementary school my brother went to that was only a few blocks away was now a parochial school for Muslims. Diversity has arrived in Morton Grove for sure.
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